We stayed at the Romazzino for a long weekend in the middle of September. We had a fabulous stay, the hotel is not too far from the airport, just 30 minutes and you can easily get taxis outside. It's about 70 euros - an earlier review said that the hotel transfer which is 80 euros is not worth paying, but they are virtually the same price so if you prefer to have the security of the hotel meeting you can then arrange for them to pick you up.

We were greeted by the doorman, shown to reception, everyone was very friendly, we were taken to our double room which had a balcony and a view of the sea and bay.

We were on a half board basis, and unusually you can choose lunch or dinner. We never eat in hotel restaurants at dinner, but because we arrived after lunch decided we may as well eat in for our first evening.

The pool is quite large, with plenty of room for everyone, so no sitting squashed with only inches away from the person next to you (like Il Pelicano). There is also a private beach, which doesn't have particularly soft sand but loads of guests seem to spend all day there.

The lunch buffet has to be seen (and tasted) to be believed! It must be one of the best we have ever had. You can have ANYTHING you want, ranging from a salad, to pasta, to grilled meat or fish, to a bowl of mussels, a choice of loads of desserts, ice creams and cheese.

Our dinner on the first night was amazing, the dining room is on a terrace which overlooks the bay, it's lit beautifully and is very romantic. The food is as plain or as fancy as you like. We enjoyed it so much that we ate there on our third night, we were actually so full (from lunch) we didn't feel like going in to Porto Cervo to eat so we asked if we could just have plain grilled chicken, with vegetables and saute potatoes. No problem. Out it came and was perfect!

I think one of the best things about the hotel is that they don't say no to anything a guest asks for. You want something, you ask for it, they get it for you. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff.

We really loved the Romazzino, we are going to go back next year and hope that it will be a regular destination for us for many more holidays in the future.

I must begin by saying that we visited this hotel with a view to staying there on our next trip to the Costa Smeralda. We are affluent civilised probably rather glamorous visitors - precisely the sort of people to whom this chain is hoping to appeal! Forget it! The service and attitude was dreadful and offhand and we would not now dream of considering this hotel. The location was attractive if rather isolated. The beach was public with the hotel's sunloungers and umbrellas very close together in one section of the beach. Originally we intended to eat at the hotel , despite its astronomical prices, in order to assess the standard. However, when we asked to see the rooms and for hotel details, the staff were so offhand that we changed our minds. We were told that the beach was private, which it is not and the Italian beach boy was very rude. The staff have no idea how to behave. We stayed at the Imperial Vienna, another Starwood place, a few months ago. There the staff were better but still several of them had an attitude problem. We contrast this with The Sacher, where they are delightful. We normally stay at some of the best hotels in the world and it is my view that Starwood has a lot to learn in the department of staff training. I would give this chain a miss!

My family and I used Starwood points for two rooms from 29 July through 5 August. We have traveled extensively and this is absolutely the worst by far that we have been treated anywhere in the world. I cannot believe it happened at a hotel that has such a lofty profile as the Romazzino.

I contacted your customer service department who made an inquiry. I was sent an email by the General Manager of the Hotel Romazzino Bart Spoorenberg who simply made excuses for what happened, took no responsibility, and just covered up what happened (in fact made representations that were not factual and untruthful). His email was infuriating.

A number of incidents happened which I will summarize below:

Board

After checking in, the front desk clerk Nicolas pulled me aside and said in a soft voice "You know by the correspondence you had with Mr. Solas that you are taking the Board package for 600 euro per room per day [or $840, or $420 per person per day for adults or kids!]." The board plan was mentioned as an option when I made the reservation, but I didn't ask for it because of the very high cost so I responded "No, that's not something that I agreed to." Nicolas then said in a short, self-justified tone "Well, it's in the emails." I replied "Please check the emails and I think you'll find that there was no such agreement." He then turned and walked away brusquely.

About an hour later, I was walking through the front lobby and was approached by Tarciscio Solas the front office manager. He said "I understand Nicolas spoke with you about the board. You know, you are staying here on points for free, so you should take the board. It's only 600 euro per day." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Should I feel guilty that I was using Starwood points? Why were they being so insistent and pushy about it. He kept going "If you take taxis back and forth to town, you end up spending the same amount anyway." This was simply not true -- we ended up eating at many excellent restaurants for 80-150 euro total for dinner for four including wine (and we had a rental car). To ease away from his confrontation, I simply told him that I would consider his advice and get back to him.

Later that first day, I was walking toward the beach and Mr. Solas appeared again. He asked "Have you decided about the Board?" By now, I was feeling really uncomfortable, even just walking around the hotel, fearing that I would get accosted and asked about why we didn't taking the board plan.

Food Poisoning

The first night we were fatigued from our travels and decided to just have room service. I had the cheeseburger and woke up the next morning with a terrible case of food poisoning (I ended up throwing up violently and having a fever for two days).

That morning I went to the concierge desk to get some Tylenol. The concierge said that they didn't have any but could get some. It ended up taking until 5pm that evening! I told him that I got food poisoning from the room service and urged him to inform the kitchen. But there was no reaction, just a blank stare almost like he did not want to admit that I could have gotten it from the hotel's food.

Later we found out that there was a doctor available to the hotel guests, but for some reason I was never offered those services. Was all this in retribution for our not taking the board? Or was it just plain inhospitable service at supposedly a world-class resort?

To add insult to injury, when we checked out, we discovered that they charged us a piddley 3 euro for the Tylenol. After giving me food poisoning (which I could sue them for), not only they could offer no apologies, but charged me for the medicine!

Connecting Rooms

When we made the reservation several months prior, we requested connecting rooms. Our two young daughters are ages 3 and 5 so it was important to us to get connecting rooms. As proven by the recent kidnapping incident in Portugal, it would not be safe to leave the kids in a separate room, so my wife and I would have to split up for the whole week if we did not get connecting rooms. We were told it might be not be possible to accomodate but they would try their best. A few weeks before our trip I called and asked again, and again they said they would try.

When we checked in, the reception desk told us that the connecting rooms were not available, but instead had two side by side rooms, 134 and 135. We went to our rooms and noticed that one room, room 134, had a connecting door to 133. So I went to the front desk and asked whether there was any possibility we could switch our room 135 for 133 (the rooms were of the same class and essentially identical). Mr. Solas was there. He checked some papers and said that there was no way as the people had checked in already and would be there for two more weeks.

Several hours later, we saw a couple moving their bags into room 133. I couldn't believe it! Mr. Solas had lied about someone having checked in prior. They could have easily swapped the rooms. I went up to the front desk again to see if we could swap rooms. They said that no, that was not possible, and gave no reasons, just a blank stare.

The next morning after discovering I had a bad case of food poisoning, my wife called the front desk and spoke with Mr. Solas. She explained that I got sick, and she felt very uncomfortable should she have to leave the kids in one room in order to tend to me in the other room. Mr. Solas was unmoved, and said "Madame, do not use your husband's sickness as an excuse. It is an entirely separate issue." My wife continued to explain the situation but Mr. Solas cut her off in a condescending tone "You cannot have connecting rooms. Understand you are in Italy, madame. This is not America. Don't complain, you have rooms next to each other. You are being ridiculous" and started to laugh!

We could not believe such a hotel would treat their guest like this. He insulted my wife and laughed at her during a time of stress and weakness. It is ironic that the hotel's own booklet quotes Mr. Solas as explaining what makes the Romazzino special as "especially the personalized and friendly service--the clients feel at home here." When asked how he would describe the perfect reception desk employee, he states in the booklet "Amiable, precise, patient and alert--so we can anticipate our client's needs." What could be further from the truth.

We had it. Sick or not I was not going to let my family be treated this way and I tried to find another room somewhere else in the Porto Cervo, anywhere else. Unfortunately with the summer vacations in Italy upon us, we could not find any rooms available. We ended up having a most uncomfortable week at the Hotel Romazzino. Everywhere we went, we felt that the hotel staff was looking at and talking about us. We had worked hard all year and were really looking forward to our trip. How could it end up like this!

We suffered emotional/mental anguish and stress, and that we essentially wasted several thousands of dollars to travel to and from Porto Cervo (about $8000 of airfares in total) to have a lousy vacation. This is not to speak of the cost of the vacation time we took from our jobs.

Save your money. Much better places to stay for far less.

A plan to visit Sardinia's sandy beaches for my honeymoon brought up Hotel Romazzino. Amazing location, right on the beach. It's a luxury 5-star hotel and you can spend your entire vacation here (I stayed 4 nights) - which is good because there is not much else to do in Sardinia.

For 1,500 euro a night, I expect more. Seems a bit overkill to pay 80 euros for an airport shuttle (take a taxi instead), 5 euros for each tennis ball (though rackets and court use is free) and 20 euros for a drink at the beach bar. The dinner menu has no prices listed - I don't care if I splurge, but I'd like to know what I'm getting in to... Same applies to water skiing, etc - why not tell the guests what the charges are?

Still, the restaurant is excellent - since the menu changes every day, you can eat here daily. My room (premium sea view room) had an excellent view of the sea and the moonrise, though it was a relatively small and bare room, for the price.

The beach is not a private beach, only the umbrellas are reserved. The beach is very clean, though, and the hawkers are only a minor inconvenience.

Tip: Order room service, using a menu from the restaurant. It's MUCH cheaper.